Teaching Creative Writing Skills to Primary School Children in Hong Kong: Discordance Between the Views and Practices of Language Teachers

Although creativity has been valued in ancient and contemporary Chinese literature, the degree to which creativity is valued and incorporated into teaching by Chinese language teachers is not known. This information is important given that creativity has been increasingly recognized in the education literature as a component of effective writing. The purpose of this study was to compare the views of Chinese language teachers in Hong Kong about creativity and the acquisition of creative writing skills by primary school children, and their teaching practices. A total of 449 Chinese language teachers, employed at primary schools throughout Hong Kong completed a survey questionnaire. The 14‐item questionnaire focused on teachers' views of creativity, their perceptions of how to develop students' creativity, their awareness of creative writing strategies, and teaching practices related to creative writing. With respect to the definition of creativity, teachers identified imagination foremost, followed by inspiration, and original ideas. Teachers identified developing students' confidence, and providing an open atmosphere as essential means of fostering creativity. Despite the apparent value of creativity expressed by the teachers and their familiarity with methods for enhancing creativity, the majority reported using traditional methods of teaching writing. Strategies are recommended for reconciling this discrepancy, and promoting creative writing skills by primary school teachers in Hong Kong and other Chinese speaking societies.     

Clinical assessment of suicide risk in depressive disorder

Efforts to identify clinical risk factors for complete suicide through the follow-up of depressed patients have yielded relatively few robust predictors. Those identified by at least three studies are (in order of decreasing frequency) suicidal plans/attempts, male sex, being single or living alone, inpatient status, and hopelessness. Because the best established of these predictors has only modest sensitivity and specificity, the need for other robust tools is clear. A rich body of research has identified two biological risk factors for suicide in depressive disorder: hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity and deficits in serotonin function. Moreover, there is now considerable evidence that the dexamethasone suppression test and measures of serum cholesterol concentrations, respectively, may provide a clinically useful reflection of these two mechanisms. Observations that these measures appear to be additive, both with each other and with other clinical risk factors, indicate that a substantial improvement in the clinician's ability to assess suicide risk is possible.     

Suicide Ideations,Suicide Attempts,and Completed Suicide in Persons with Pathological Gambling and Their First‐Degree Relatives

We examined the relationship between suicidal ideations and attempts in 95 probands with pathological gambling (PG), 91 controls, and 1075 first‐degree relatives. The results were analyzed using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations. Thirty‐four PG probands (35.8%) and 4 controls (4.4%) had attempted suicide (OR = 12.12, p < .001); in 13 probands, the attempt occurred before PG onset. Lifetime suicidal ideations occurred in 60 PG probands (63.2%) and 12 controls (13.2%) (OR = 11.29, p < .001). Suicidality in PG probands is a marker of PG severity and is associated with greater psychiatric comorbidity. Offspring of PG probands had significantly higher rates of suicide attempts than control offspring.